BX 



H LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



[FORCECpJ-LECTION.] ^ 



S ^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



I 



LETTER 



REV. WILLIAM E. CHANNING 



TO THE 



STANDING COMMITTEE 



PROPRIETORS OF THE MEETING-HOUSE IN FEDERAL 
STREET, 

IN THE TOWN OF BOSTON, 

READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, MAY 6, I84O3 



REPLY OF THE PROPRIETORS THERETO. 



PRINTED FOR THE USE OF THE PROPRIETORS. 

• ^ I 



J BOSTON: 
JOSEPH DOWE. 
1840. 



CAMBRIDGE PRESS : 
METCALF, TORRY, AND BALLOU. 



At the annual meeting of the Proprietors of the Meeting-house 
in Federal Street, in the town of Boston, on the sixth day of May, 
1840, a communication was read, which had been addressed by 
Rev. Dr. Channing to the Standing Committee of the Proprietors. 
Upon hearing the letter, the Proprietors voted to refer it to a Com- 
mittee, with instructions to report at a future meeting. The follow- 
ing gentlemen composed that Committee : Messrs. John Davis, 
T. H. Perkins, John Welles, Henry Chapman, Jonathan Phillips, 
James Savage, and George Ticknor. 

At an adjourned meeting, held on the 21st day of May, the Com- 
mittee presented the following 



" The Committee appointed by the Proprietors of Berry Street 
Church, at their meeting on the sixth inst., to consider and report on 
a Letter, of the first inst., from Rev. William Ellery Channing, D. D., 
their Senior Pastor, communicated by the Standing Committee, to 
whom it was addressed, having attended to the duties of their ap- 
pointment, and deliberately and solicitously contemplated the inter- 
esting subject which it embraces, ask leave respectfully to offer 
their unanimous result, in the form of a Letter to the Rev. Dr. 
Channing, which they would recommend to be adopted by the Pro- 
prietors, and by the whole Society. The Reply thus recommended 
is, if approved and accepted, to be authenticated and transmitted in 
such manner as the meeting may direct. 



REPORT. 



Boston, May 27, 1840. 



{Signed) 



John Davis, 




T. H. Perkins, 
John Welles, 



Committee. 



Henry Chapman, 
James Savage, 
George Ticknor, 



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"Hon. Jonathan Phillips, one of the Committee had left Bos- 
ton on his way to Europe before any action of the Committee on 
the subject referred to them ; but his associates have entire confi- 
dence that he would, if present, entirely concur in the above Re- 
port." 

The Letter, reported by the Committee, was unanimously adopted 
by tlie Proprietors, and directed to be transmitted to the Rev. Dr. 
Channing, as their reply to his communication, verified by the sig- 
natures of the Chairman of the meeting, Samuel Greele, Esq., and 
the Clerk of the Proprietors. They also directed the Letter of Dr. 
Channing, the Reply of the Proprietors, and the Report of the 
Committee to be printed for their use, under the direction of a Com- 
mittee, consisting of the members of the former Committee, the 
Chairman of the meeting, and the Clerk of the Proprietors. 

G. S. H. 

Boston, June, 1840. 



LETTER 



TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE PROPRIE- 
TORS OF THE CHURCH IN FEDERAL STREET. 



Boston, May 1, 1840. 

Gentlemen, 

This day being the beginning of our parochial 
year, I think it a fit season for a communication, 
which I have for some time intended to make. 
I have, as you may recollect, proposed more than 
once to relinquish my salary, but have as often 
been requested by the Society to retain it. The 
last request was communicated to me by the Hon. 
J. Davis and the Hon. J. Welles, with a kindness 
which I shall always remember with gratitude. 
I observed to them, that one reason for relin- 
quishing the salary was, that, by receiving it, I 
should excite expectations, which I might not be 
able to fulfil. But I was assured, that I was to 
consider myself as wholly free, and to preach only 
when it might be convenient. I have never lost 
the hope of being strengthened for greater public 
labors ; but as yet it has not been realized. Un- 
der this experience I have gradually reduced my 



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salary, and have resolved definitely to relinquish 
it from this day. It is also my wish and purpose, 
that all my public functions should cease. 1 do 
not desire, however, that a formal dissolution of 
our connexion should take place. Having sus- 
tained the relation of pastor nearly forty years, 
it will be gratifying to me that it should continue, 
whilst circumstances remain as they are. I wish 
that the members of the Society may feel that 
they have a right to seek friendly and spiritual 
counsels from me, when in need of such, and 
that I may have a right to communicate with 
them, when I can hope to do them good. I beg, 
however, that it may be understood, that the 
prosperity of the Society is far dearer to me than 
any personal gratification of this nature ; and if 
it should be thought best, that there should be a 
formal dissolution of the relation, 1 desire that 
this may immediately take place. 

In thus bringing my public labors among you 
to an end, I cannot but acknowledge with grati- 
tude that kind Providence, which has sustained 
me so many years amidst much physical infirmity, 
and which has made it the employment of my 
life to study and teach the religion of Jesus Christ. 
After a long experience, I feel that life could not 
have been devoted to a more worthy end. My 



7 



time has been given chiefly to the work of ac- 
quiring juster, clearer, more quickening views of 
truth and duty. In this pursuit I have spent my 
strength, and cheerfully surrendered most of what 
are called the pleasures of life. That in so doing 
I have obeyed a divine impulse, I believe ; but 1 
may have followed it too exclusively. The in- 
quiries and contemplations, which belong to my 
profession, may have encroached on its more ac- 
tive duties. My studies, which would have been 
light to a man of ordinary strength, have produced 
almost daily an exhaustion, which has left me 
little spirit for social intercourse. It might have 
been better for myself and for others, had I more 
frequently torn my mind from the subjects, which 
have absorbed almost my whole intellectual en- 
ergy. For this error, if such it be, I ask and 
hope a lenient judgment, because I have not 
given myself to intellectual indulgence, but have 
carried into my seclusion a sincere, and I hope a 
growing interest in my fellow-creatures, and in 
the Christian cause. Other and more serious de- 
ficiencies I might recall. Indeed no one can feel, 
more than I do, the imperfections of my ministry. 
For these I desire forgiveness of God and man. 
Still I do not feel as if I had labored in vain. 
My public services have been listened to with 



8 



interest, and I have had proofs, for which I am 
most grateful, that deeper effects than transient 
interest have been produced by my ministry. Not 
that I have accomphshed v^hat 1 v^ished. As a 
people, I fear, we are greatly wanting in that 
spiritual elevation, that superiority to the world, 
that love of God, of Jesus Christ, and of mankind, 
w^hich is the end of religious institutions. In 
truth, all our churches need a new life, a new 
comprehension of the spirit and high purpose of 
Christianity. This I say for the truth's sake, and in 
sorrow of heart, and not from any wounded feel- 
ings under the consciousness of having exerted 
no greater influence. As far as I am personally 
concerned, I have nothing to complain of, no 
reproaches to utter. I have received for many 
years expressions of kindness, for which I offer 
my sincere thanks. It is indeed a gratifying 
consideration, that our long union has not been 
disturbed even by a word of contention. I am 
not aware that a thought or emotion of unkind- 
ness has risen within me towards one of my 
parishioners. Were I now to leave them, I could 
from the heart bid an affectionate farewell to all, 

I have spoken of the past. It is natural for 
me at such a moment to cast a look towards the 
future. It is possible, that some sphere of action, 



9 



not now anticipated, may open on me. It is more 
probable, that my present sphere will be con- 
tracted. When I look round me, I see not one 
of the ministers, who filled the pulpits of this city 
at my ordination. All have gone to their account ; 
and not a few, settled since, have also passed away. 
He, who seemed destined to go among the first, 
survives alone. Can I help applying to myself 
the language of the apostle, " The time of my 
departure is at hand " ? Nor is the time very 
distant, when all, to whom 1 have ministered, will 
have entered the unknown world. It is my fer- 
vent prayer, that we may meet in the temple 
"not made with hands," and that a hoher worship 
than has united us here may bind us together 
forever. 

I may on another occasion express my feelings 
more fully to the Society. I earnestly desire, that 
they may continue to enjoy the labors of their 
devoted pastor, and that through this and other 
means of religion, their harmony may be per- 
petuated, and their spiritual improvement never 
cease. 

With respect and affection. 
Your friend, 

Wm. E. Channing. 

2 



REPLY. 



The Proprietors and Congregation of the Church in 
Berry Street to their Senior Pastor, the Reverend 
William Ellery Channing, D. D. 

Rl>V. AND DEAR SiR, 

We have received from the Standing Committee 
of the Proprietors the letter you addressed them on 
the first instant, announcing your purpose, from 
that day, to relinquish the small remainder of sal- 
ary, which, at our earnest request, you had, till 
then, consented to receive from us ; and express- 
ing your desire that, without formally dissolving 
the connexion that has so long and so happily 
subsisted between us, your public functions, as a 
minister of Christ to this Society, may cease. 

We do not wish to conceal from you, that we 
receive this decision with regret and pain. Perhaps 
we feel it the more sensibly, because it seemed 
to be our duty to acquiesce in it, and thus make 
it final. For several years we have known that 



12 



you considered such a separation, as you now 
propose, desirable on account of the state of your 
health, and if we have heretofore been unwilHng 
to give it our concurrence, it has been from feel- 
ings of respect and attachment to yourself, that 
have grown old in many of our hearts, and sunk 
deep in all of them. We may, from these feel- 
ings, have resisted your wishes longer than we 
ought to have done, but we hope and trust we 
have not been unreasonable ; and now that the 
time has arrived, when we are not permitted to 
hesitate in giving to them our full assent, it grati- 
fies us, that you do not seek to make the separa- 
tion absolute and entire, but that you are desirous 
on your part, as we are on ours, to retain some 
of the bonds that have united us during a con- 
nexion, that has been permitted to be so happy 
and to last so long. 

You allude to the possibility, that some incon- 
venience may hereafter arise to us from the con- 
tinuance of these bonds. We anticipate none. 
We can imagine nothing but good from their 
continuance. Still if, in the course of Providence, 
any inconvenience should be felt, we shall, in the 
spirit of frankness, with which you have spoken 
of our union and its motives, avail ourselves of 
your permission to dissolve it, trusting, that, with 



18 



the same frankness, you would claim the right 
you grant ; and if it should at any time seem 
important or desirable to you to exercise it, that 
you would do so, and separate yourself from us 
wholly. We do not, however, suppose it at all 
likely that either party will take a step, which we 
are sure neither would take but with great reluct- 
ance and from a strong sense of duty ; and we 
allude to its possibility, only because you have 
done so, and because we think it important that 
both should feel perfectly free to act in circum- 
stances that cannot be foreseen. 

Our connexion, as you intimate, has been con- 
tinued through a longer period, than could at first 
have been anticipated, — a period indeed so long, 
that few remain among us, who bore witness to its 
beginning. You came to us thirty-seven years ago, 
when our numbers were so few and our circum- 
stances so humble, that it was apparent you came 
only from a sense of duty, and from a disinterested 
desire to serve your fellow-men. Under your care, 
however, we soon prospered and grew numerous. 
But, at every step of our progress, we felt that, 
under God's good Providence, we owed it chiefly 
to you. We have, too, as we trust, been thankful 
for the ministrations we have enjoyed. We have 
certainly felt them to be a privilege — a great 



14 



privilege — and we have greatly valued them. 
Nor has their influence been confined to our- 
selves. They have been felt and acknowledged 
beyond the limits of our own Society, beyond the 
limits of our own country; and we trust that 
even yet neither their work nor yours is wholly 
accomplished. We trust, that, long after both 
you and we are gone to render up our last ac- 
count, your spirit, in the record of what you have 
here spoken, will be still active in the great cause 
of Christ and of human improvement, to which 
you have devoted your hfe. The only regret we 
feel, when looking back upon the period of your 
connexion with us, is, that we have not profited, 
as we ought to have done, by the privileges we 
have enjoyed ; that we have not become spiritual, 
and superior to the world ; devoted to duty, as 
you have labored to make us. We pray God to 
forgive us for our deficiencies, and to make your 
teachings more effectual to the generations that 
are to come after us, than they have been to us 
and to our own. 

We feel gratified by the suggestion, that your 
public labors may not wholly cease ; and that you 
may not only speak again to us, but that it is pos- 
sible you may become active in some other sphere 
of usefulness. Amidst whatever circumstances the 



15 



course of God's Providence may place you, we 
doubt not that your influence will be elevating 
and improving ; and that we shall always witness 
and share its effects with thankfulness, seeking 
such personal and more immediate intercourse 
with you, as our relative positions may permit 
and authorize, and looking to you, at all times, 
as to a Christian Pastor and spiritual friend. 

It is, we know, a satisfaction to you, as it is to 
us, that you do not leave us alone, but that we 
remain under the ministrations of the able and 
devoted Pastor, who has been so long associated 
with you. We pray, for your sake, as well as 
for our own, that his health may be fully restored ; 
and that his services, such as you have yourself 
been accustomed to witness and share them, may 
be yet many years continued to us and to our 
children. We can desire nothing better than such 
fidelity and devotedness as his, except a corre- 
sponding faithfulness on our own part to improve 
by them. 

In conclusion, we would invoke on you the 
blessings you have so often besought for us, add- 
ing, for the sake of the cause of Christianity 
and human improvement, our prayers that your 
strength and health may be increased, and that 



16 



your faculties may be preserved uuimpaired to a 
remote and happy old age. 

On behalf of the Proprietors and the Congre- 
gation of Berry Street Church. 

SAMUEL GREELE, Chairman. 
GEORGE S. HILLARD, Proprietors' Clerk. 



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